304 STATE BOAKD OF AGRICULTUKE. 



Mr. Clark, of Bennington, gave an address entitled '*^The Coming Farmer." 

 The following paper was read by Dr. J. B. Barnes on the 



"culture of small fruits." 



In compliance with the request of the committee on programme, I am here 

 to tell you what I know about the growing of small fruits. A great 

 deal has been said and written upon this subject within the last few years; 

 and I apprehend that I shall find it difficult to advance anything new at this 

 time. But the facts that I shall state, and the suggestions that I may make 

 will mostly be the result of my own experience and. observation. 



Every person, both in city and country, who is the occupant of much or little 

 land, should see to it that a certain portion of the same be devoted to the rais- 

 ing of small fruits, the free use of which is a promoter of health, and they are 

 at the same time one of the greatest luxuries that we receive from the hands of 

 a bountiful benefactor. 



It is perfectly marvelous to the lover of small fruits to witness the almost 

 total neglect on the part of the farmers of the county to cultivate the same. 

 We met a gentleman the other day who has the reputation of being a first- 

 class farmer, whose barns and cellars are filled with the rich products of a gen- 

 erous soil. His wife also has the reputation of making the best butter that is 

 brought into this market. All the staple articles usually raised on a farm are 

 well cared for, and his industry is generally crowned with success. We inquired 

 if he was well supplied with a choice selection of small fruits, and the reply was 

 that he had not given much attention to horticulture, but he designed this 

 spring to devote a part of his garden to small fruits. Now this man has lived 

 fifty years without such a luxury, all for the want of a greater appreciation of 

 it and a little painstaking. Now, what is true of this man is true of nine-tenths 

 of the farmers throughout the county. The reason generally given for the neg- 

 lect of this branch of industry is that there is no money in it. There, with this 

 farmer, as with everybody else, the almighty dollar comes to the surface. This 

 is a sordid reason, and the man that gives it should hide his face for shame. 

 Another reason offered by the less able farmers is that they have not time to 

 attend to these small interests. This reason is as shiftless as the other is miserly. 



Both should be discarded. An average of thirty minutes a day from the first 

 of May till the first of November Avill give a family of six persons all the straw- 

 berries, raspberries, gooseberries, and grapes that they will want for the season. 

 This thirty minutes can be utilized in the morning while waiting for breakfast, 

 or in the evening after the working hours of the day are past. Every farmer, 

 large or small, if he puts his mind to it can have either strawberries or raspber- 

 ries on the table every day for six weeks during the berry season. We will guar- 

 antee, if the berries are furnished that the ladies' department of the household 

 Avill supplement the table with a pitcher of cream at each meal. Neither will 

 the dish of berries be scrimped, but, as the Irishman said, "you can take them 

 to the fill of your shirt." 



I once picked thirty bushels of strawberries from a small patch in my garden 

 not equal in size to two by eight rods. The same amount of land in any shape 

 you please will furnish to any ordinary family the desired amount of strawber- 

 ries, raspberries, and gooseberries, provided they are planted as they should 

 be and properly cared for. In the first place, the ground should be made rich 

 with rotted manure, thoroughly plowed or worked in with a garden fork. The 

 surface should be made smooth with the rake. For garden culture strawberries 



